Artsy Week!

Beginning with the talent show at St. Francis last Tuesday, this past week has been filled with many shows and cultural experiences. This weekend, we went to see our friend Katherine perform in a play she also directed, titled Latinas. She and the other actresses are leaving this weekend for a festival in Washington D.C. where they will be performing it a few times. It was phenomenal; the show followed four women from four different Latin American countries as they were uprooted and relocated for a variety of reasons - studies, love, work, etc. At the end, the message was inspiring, especially for us as young women in a foreign country: no matter who you are or where you are, you are where you’re meant to be!  

After stumbling upon the blessing of pets at mass in the center of Moravia on Sunday (there’s nothing to distract you like a  church with standing room only and barking dogs...), we heard about a concert that would be held there that evening. Molly and I wandered up that way just in time for it to start and it turned out to be the choirs from a nearby university’s end of the year performance. The show featured all sorts of musical styles and was terrific. It turned out to be a nice way to end a relaxed but eventful weekend.

Oh! We also were invited to breakfast at our friend Marta’s house on Saturday morning. Marta is the athletic director at St. Francis and has kids that are about our age. She is originally from Guatemala and her husband, Paul, is from Mass.! He’s a BC football fan!  After getting quite lost on our way to her house, we enjoyed chatting with her about everything from cultural diversity in Costa Rica and racism to what her kids were studying in the States.

On Wednesday of this week, Centeno celebrated “Dia de las Culturas,” which is Costa Rica’s take on Colombus Day. Instead of celebrating Colombus himself, we celebrated the cultural encounter that has taken place across the centuries in Central America. My department represented Africa. After spending the last two weeks drawing, cutting, painting, and posting decorations of animals, animal skins, trees, birds, etc, we transformed two classrooms. I must say, this position will definitely give me new arts and crafts project ideas! Here are some pictures...enjoy!

You feel like you're in Africa, right?

One of our many cardboard animals

Cool, right?

Our classroom staff!

In other news, it’s raining. Again. Still. Forever. It has rained every day since we arrived, but lately the storms have gotten longer and stronger. It used to be sunny and clear in the mornings but now it’s just raining - drizzling, pouring, whatever - always. Our clothes take a couple days to dry on the line out back. But on the plus side, I got to teach Juan Gabriel, my student who speaks English, the expression “it’s raining cats and dogs!” We’re off to the beach for the weekend, and praying for some sunshine!